The Roles of Women in Organized Crimes - Case Study Example

The Roles of Women in Organized Crimes By: Professor: Class: University: City: State: Date of submission: The Roles of Women in Organized Crimes Introduction With consideration and trajectory in the role of women in the society, there is the existence of the supplemental impact on the manner in which women dealt with gender-related issues which are considered the masculine living structure. Purposely, the role of women within the organized crime units like mafia and mob organization major stressed on the subservient role played by women and their correlated exclusion from the world of power, violence, and influence. Customarily and stereotypically, women in the mafia with the inclusion of both daughters and wives, they are viewed as meek, sheltered, and invisible from true workings with their male counterparts (Fiandaca, 2007, 88). Most women with roots in these criminal organizations manage to find some of command and visibility. Upon underestimation and dismissal of the history, the perception on the role of women in mafia institutions changed and reconstructed beyond the stereotype that has always hidden the importance. Ultimately, it is easy to filter down the role played by women in the mafia into various segments of interactions and reactions. The daughters and wives of the male mafia members are usually exposed irrespective of their veil to criminal activities of their parents. In most cases, the veiled exposure often creates an allure and fascination with the life of mafia perpetuating into the actions of women within the groups. For the daughters of many mafias, being women makes them ineligible of becoming part of the parents' organizations (La-Spina, 2013, 123). Ironically, several daughters are inheriting similar disposition as their parents, which makes them ideal candidates of working with the mafia, if not for their sex. Understanding Female Criminality in Socio-Cultural Space Women hold different positions in the transnational organized crime networks. In several researches, criminal networks might be limited to assume that the transnational criminal activities are the affairs of men or the roles of the victims is left predominantly for the women to fulfil. Women global tend to appear to involve in different transnational organized crimes differing at various levels. Moreover, women take on the roles including being supporters, partners in related criminal activities, and main organizers of the mafia activities (Fisher & Silber, 2003, 214). Since the late 1990s, there have been involvements of women in serious economic crimes, which have become more evident. Nonetheless, such revelation does not mean that women were involved in serious criminal activities in the past, or there has been clear evolution because of the emancipation of similarly related issues. It is important to consider always various biases involved while studying female criminality. In most countries, the involvement of women in mafia-related crimes might have been interpreted based on the cultural stereotypes, which view women as victims and works to the advantage of similar criminal organizations (Lyman & Potter, 2015, 65). In the recent years, the involvement of women in the transnational organized crimes has expanded in different countries majorly due to the rising rates of mobility and additional economic and social opportunities associated with the trade. Therefore, one could argue rightly that some women are not passive subordinates that most researches undertaken in the past considered them to be. In fact, such women are the sole or the co-executive leaders with the shared power of mafia networks, and the knowledge of criminal activities they posses, and criticality in their functions is bringing clarity gradually to the blind spot with criminological research. Besides the cultural leadership in different countries, it needs to note that not every woman tends to take voluntary the opportunities associated with criminal activities (Hübschle, 2013, 42). The roles of women are changing and are becoming important in the modern mafia organizations. Initially, women were respected since they were mothers, daughters, or wives of the Mafia leaders; however, the perception changed, and they earned more respect for their rule within the criminal organizations. Women who are not strictly the members of the mafia organization tend to express different levels of complicity; nonetheless, provision of cheap and easily available criminal workforce. Moreover, it is important to note that the role of women does not change much from the roles played by their males counterparts normally linked to the organization (Lisa, 2016). The illicit activities of the mafias are usually unemployed and living in the most deprived localities. The involvement of groups in several occasions is perceived as the only solution considering that they frequently have numerous children to sustain on their considering the fact that their husbands are usually dead, unemployed, or serving life sentences. Multicultural Feminism and Procedural Rationality Traditionally, women have been considered to hold less powerful positions within the organized crimes (Renga, 2013, 242). Moreover, women have labelled as the supporters but not necessarily through their brains of operations. Considering the case of the Italian mafia, for a long time, women were classified into postman, messengers, or suppliers. Such assistant responsibilities were found to be unsophisticated; therefore, they were punishable by law which further outlined the gender biases and expectations of occurrence of male and female relationships within the criminal networks (Gasparini & Eskenazi, 2011, 105). Consequently, the traditional scholars concluded that organized crimes are segregated sexually because when the stakes are at high, and risk is great, the women counterparts in the Mafia are more likely to remain within their gender roles as either wives or mothers, which disconnect them from the criminal activities. In such context, women are viewed as the risk takers considering the fact that they socialize towards a greater conformity. Additionally, such stereotype influenced major organizations such as the Italian mafia and judges for a long time, which made women, regarded as the passive subject dominated by the Mafiosi men-folk, insusceptibility to penalty. In countries such as Argentina, the prosecutors expressed the rate at which women were deemed and considered the weaker gender. The women were not properly equipped for taking their substantive roles in the organized crimes (Di-Maria & Lo-Verso, 2011, 92). Nonetheless, since the late 1990s, various police agencies and international community's argued that women acquired prominent roles in the transnational organized network of criminals especially in the human trafficking. According to the United Nations Office on Drug and Culture (UNODC) report, female offenders play significant roles in human trafficking and most cases prosecuted for the related offenses. These female criminals often act as partners in crime and organizers referring to their strategic planning of trafficking activities, from victim recruitment to their exploitation, and the overall control of finances. However, there is a global evolution in the role of women in organized criminal networks (Farr, 2005, 72). On the contrary, the rational choice-inspired theories tend to assume that people behave as if they are in rational utility often maximizing the responses to the opportunities. Adaptation and evolution are often in line with such rational approach; the criminals are reasoning beings choosing commitment to crime after weighing the costs, risks, and benefits of their actions. These include the immediate requirement for the criminal gain, which is the apprehension risk, the severity of the punishment if caught, and the value of the criminal enterprises (Belay, 2007, 142). Therefore, as women commit themselves to achieving social equality and equal access to the available opportunities within the workplace, they would eventually commit similar crises as their male counterparts. The increment in opportunities has been considered as one of the plausible explanation associated with the rising and active involvement of women in human trafficking networks. Additionally, the cultural criminologists tend to argue that the criminals are neither amenable to the long-term rewards not strongly deterred by anything less than the immediate and certain punishments (Töttel, Bulanova-Hristova, Büchler, & Germany, 2011, 149). Female Offenders: Partners in Crime and Supporters Most organized crimes in several regions attract the significant international attention after communism. These organized criminal groups became known for their violent, high-risk crime, and working with the service providers for the established institutions (Savona & Natoli, 2009, 105). Throughout the years, the balance shifted as the circumstances brought various criminal groups into a position of greater influence. For example, with the collapse of the pyramid schemes in Albania (1997) and conflict in Kosovo (1998 – 1999), several Albanian transnational organized criminal groups became international in their operations (Dwek & British Broadcasting Corporation, 2002, 127). By 2003, there were several established groups considered as prominent criminal actors globally, partly through their reputation of using the extreme violence. Such groups became engaged in almost everything including the arms, drugs, and human trafficking to organized theft, money laundering, and extortion. Currently, the perception in the involvement of women in criminal networks has increased gradually (Cawley, 2013). For example, the Europol and Interpol noted that organized criminal groups such as Balkan frequently used women in achieving their organizational objectives; however, there is little known concerning the profile of women involved. It is an expectation that the wives of the mafia men make efforts in creating their positions not only within the organizations of their husbands but their careers as well. The mafia men are expected to have control over their wives, keeping them out of harms and exerting their authority over them. From a traditional perspective, women often worked closely with their husbands to cover their tracks; hide their assets, and handling police related affairs. For example, Brenda Colletti was drawn into criminal activities with the allure of power, connection, and influence associated with the mafia. Colletti longed to fit into the mafia group and strived to be one of the indispensable women to the organization. Moreover, Colletti used her sexual appeal in distracting and poisoning their enemies, covering for the husband, and the associates whenever the mob affairs deepened. Taking the more active roles compared to the traditional mafia wives, Colletti was welcomed by the mafia men as an active organizational participant which reflects the manner in which the organized crimes viewed women. Through the demeanor and ambition, Colletti managed to make her and managed to serve as the greatest example to the demure wives of other mafia men. Although Colleti's story ended with the collapse of power and money, the involvement contributed to the most exciting moments and thrilling opening into the adventure world, connection, and respect. Virginia Hill is another woman that rose into power in the mafia organizations. Through her fascination by the dangerous men and a mistress to most of them, Hill managed to exploit men in every association moment to gain the desired benefits. Moreover, she managed to discredit the wives of the mafia men considering the manner that their husbands abused and mistreated them. Through her ruthless and cunning behaviours, Hill managed in taking active roles with the mob. Additionally, the strength of character, potential for aggressiveness, charisma, predisposition towards violence, and strong attitude as a leader assisted in thriving among the mafia men. Possession of such traits prevented her from playing the ordinary mistress role as other women. Instead, Hill worked independently and earned income through courier and money laundering for the mafia. Using her sex appeal to her advantage, Hill managed to go back to the previous lovers whenever she needed money. Moreover, Hill worked for different mafia groups and focused in investing in her rather than the organization. Consequently, she managed to develop her personal poor and influence, and to some extent threatened to expose the illegal activities of the mafia to get away. While taking the advantage of the underestimation of women, Hill used the traits invariably in succeeding the mafia: tenacity, ambition, secrecy, and sex appeal. Historically, there have been expectations that women fit in the society through withdrawing from the power positions, influence, and danger. However, ironically, most women working with the organized mafia groups either inherit the necessary trait from the successful mafia men or are drawn to the lifestyle through their ambitions and desires. Within the expected subservience structure, women are still managing the reactions and interactions associated with their designated positions with relative tenacity and ferocity (Arts and Entertainment Network & New Video Group, 2006, 117). The daughters of the mafia often take after their fathers, yet they are forced to branch out into their imagination and hard work. Similarly, mistresses and wives involved with the mafia men often acquire exposure into working with the mafia. Such exposures always contribute to high levels of curiosity and ultimately, the women's role in the organized crimes sort themselves into the strength of character (Zhang, 2011, 114). While mafia groups barred traditional women from getting involved, with the right traits, it is important to note that women could challenge the existing male-dominant mafia structures through utilization of their skills and ingenuity. Integrated Roles of Women According to the traditional researches on the roles of women in the mafia groups, it is clear that women have integrated responsibilities of ensuring the protection of both organization and the dreams of the husbands within similar groups (Squires, 2009). In other words, women serve dual roles. Women are expected to take on the male characteristics and tasks, which involves perpetrating and withstanding violence, wearing the clothing of men, and acting the role of females, which involve cooking and caring for their men, sick, and children (Longrigg, 2004, 198). Consequently, most mafia groups believe that women are less suspicious in the eyes of the authorities and tasked with the responsibilities of acting like the drug mules, carrying the arms in the public areas, gathering intelligence on rival gang groups, and smuggling illicit goods into the jails. The unequal treatment of the women within the organized gangs is considered one the features of gang initiation process. While mafia men are subjected to beating, women are offered the choices between beating and sustenance to sexual relations with multiple gang members for an equivalent amount of time. However, women are harassed later if they consider the second option. Women ending up to be members of the mafia member because they are dating the members often get automatic in and receive respectful treatment by the rest of the gang. Nonetheless, it is an expectation that they frequently tolerate to the infidelity from the male gang members, as such offense could be punishable by death (Tapia, 2006, 98). To some extent, the reasons for leaving always differ as some opt to leave due to pregnancy and to be a position of offering better lives to their children. If any woman fails to leave the gang, she can rarely manage to escape her identity of the gang. Besides the harassments from the previous companions, women are likely to be excluded socially on the outside and receive little assistance whenever they need to re-integrate into the society. In most cases, the male gang counterparts undervalue women. Conferring to the United Nations Office on Drug and Culture (UNODC) report, it is clear that women are important assets to the mafia groups as they do many dirty works; as a result, they take many risks (Siegel, Bunt & Zaitch, 2003, 215). Besides serving as drug mules and smugglers of illicit goods, women in the mafia groups, especially in Guatemala, play other significant roles: gathering intelligence for extorting the gangs. Numerous signs are showing the evolution in the roles of women in organized crimes. In Guatemala, the reports indicate that the rising numbers of the imprisoned women were increasing taking on work as the thieves and assassins (Lyman & Potter, 2007, 201). One of the areas where there have been significant increments in the number of women in the gang is Mexico. In Mexico, there was 400% increment in the number of women being jailed due to drug trafficking between 2007 and 2010. From such reports, women are moving higher in the organized criminal groups. However, the reported cases in 2012 showed that there was in the number of women occupying the important position in the Gulf Cartel where most of them carried out responsibilities such as assassination, management, and administration roles. While most studies tend to deal with the gender relations, it is clear that the gang culture as a whole relies on the propagation and perpetuation of violence (Nelen & Lankhorst, 2008, 130). As shown by various experiences of women, changing the culture of the gang is not easy. For such involvement in gang activities, both males, and females leaving the organization behind could be just tough. When people think of organized crimes and mafia groups, they perceive that it is the world majorly dominated by men. However, despite such perceptions, there have women making their names form the world of organized crimes (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2010, 44). To such surprise, there have been rising number of women choosing the life of crime in the recent years considering the tough economic times. Additionally, the audacious crimes and types of women committing the crimes have been able to develop their networks, which cover the wider scope and making it difficult to trace their leads (Van-San, 2011, 290). In the horrific cycle of cartel-spurred violence in Mexico, it is evident on the rising roles played by women and to some extent taking powerful positions within the organized groups. In the culture identified for its machismo, the women are currently commanding a surprising degree of authority over the Mexican drug cartels. However, there are women in the lower levels as well. The women are undertaking different responsibilities ranging from female assassins to the low-level currency changers. At the starting point, most women often focus on money laundering for the cartels. Nonetheless, some women come from powerful families considered powerful associated with the narco-trade have been able to gain experience and connection through growing around the mafias since they were born. Other women acquired the skills and experiences from the powerful cartels through dating leaders of the mafia organizations (Zhang, 2011, 570). However, Mexico is not the only country with the rising number of upcoming female mafia, but also in Columbia and Bolivia where most mafia women engage in drug trafficking especially cocaine. Consider the geographical location of Guatemala, as key corridor from South America to Mexico, and the United States, it is the world's largest consumer of narcotic drugs. Reserved Roles: Madams and Victims in Trafficking Activities There has been documentation from various empirical studies on the manner in which women recruit women into human trafficking activities. Since most victims are recruited through deception, the traffickers often require acquiring trust of the potential victims. In the case of human trafficking for the reasons associated with sexual exploitations, the traffickers often use female nationals of similar country as the female victims (Fregoso & Bejarano, 2010, 192). The trust of the victims is not only required while recruiting them but also during their transfer and at the destination to prevent the escape risks. Several researchers, agency analysts, and advocacy groups have been able to make numerous outlandish claims regarding the nature and the scope of problem associated with human trafficking with the existence of little empirical backings (Siebert, 2011, 25). In addition, most scholarly materials often focused on sex trafficking at the expense of trafficking other people. Global studies show that labour trafficking represents the greatest concern compared to sex trafficking. Most researches from sex trafficking revealed that women are actively involved in the recruitment and transfer process. Countries in the Sub-Saharan have been witnessing the proliferation of the organized crimes networks involved in international trade of drugs over the past decades. In some cases, women have been portrayed to fill in for their locked husbands, which lay foundation of involving in criminal related activities. Occasionally, women step in for their husbands in to assist in running the mafia organizations temporarily when jailed or murdered. However, the new studies show that women are using such opportunities within the mafia organizations to establish their connections that in turn enable them to rise through the ranks to becoming the bosses in their capacity. Moreover, it is important for the judicial systems to start paying attention to the mafia groups headed by women. The criminal organizations are changing as they prove to be less violent. The mafias are transforming their hierarchical setups to ensure flexibility in their operations. from such point, it is clear that there would be more women having the managerial positions which some empirical studies refers to as sweet criminal organizations. Mafia groups are shifting to hard crime to financial crime. As the underworld activities are shifting to the financial crime related activities, the level of violence has been dropping as organizations are becoming less centralized. Finding women having the managerial roles within small organized crimes indicate that it is very flexible but not hierarchical. The evolution in the criminal world is similar to those women in business (Walker, Spohn, & DeLone, 2012, 151). Considering the politically motivated crimes, women are equally ready to kill as their male counterparts. However, the mafia women are not as willing when it comes to business. Besides, several empirical studies found it difficult for women to justify murder for profit. Moreover, their roles tend to reflect differences in the values. In most cases, it is easy to find women mafia in areas that require certain form of finesse such as money laundering rather than murder. Even though little statistics is showing the exact number of women in the Italian mafia, most research show that there are many women in key positions are being arrested. Most claims often consider the crime of women to reflect their place in the society. Currently, it is nothing new to suggest that the crimes of traditional women are linked to their domestic life including social security fraud and shoplifting. Such apparent link might be difficult to deny although the simplistic link between the expression of the role of women and their offence choice is appropriate. For example, the crime of shoplifting, all the women shop but few of them shoplift. In such example, generalization problem comes into effect when the used theories in explaining female crime are grafted on to explain the crimes of the males although that is an exercise that is ever carried out. Contributors of the Rising Women Mafia With the rising numbers of female mafias globally engaging in different illegal activities, various states need to consider methods of curbing the increasing number of females joining the mafias through analysis of the motivating factors. Explanation and motivation for offending women have remained sexiest and inadequate. Majorly, the theme of escape, from either abusive family or economic hardship is the recurring issue in the modern literatures. Although, it is imperative that these notions are nonetheless partial and incomplete interpretation and explanation of the reasons behind the involvement of women in crime. Another interpretation and logical explanation associated with the participation of women in crime might view them differently. There several factors likely to push to join organized mafia groups including the negative effects of the economy, power, and influence acquisition, and protection. Women could have strong reasons behind committing economic crimes and could as well be found in the less backward-looking reasons but in forward-looking explanations. In such views, it is important to question the logic and reasons attached to some of the crimes, which women commit for economic gain. These explanations for involvement of crime by women have ignored, yet the explanations have long been offered for the criminality of men. Since most arguments pursued by the researchers suggest the rational choice be specifically examined concerning female offences, there is need for examination of the attracting factors to crime among the women. There are clear suggestions that financial issues might motivate some criminal activities which women and girls get involved strictly. Joining the mafia groups for prostitutions or act as a sex worker is purely for money, theft, shoplifting, forgery, and drug trafficking-related activities, which form the principle crime categories that women contribute to (Alkemade, 2014, 185). All the crimes associated with women involvement in mafia activities might be for crimes committed as a rational response to lack of adequate money to the ability to obtain sufficient money from the traditional sources considered as legitimate. The attraction held out by the opportunities viewed as criminal and illegal in nature and the rewards is a potential lure for women (Williams, 2004). This forward-looking rationality sees into the future that envisages more compelling lifestyle offered through resorting to the unlawful methods of making money and achieving the required financial success. Criminal career women have little been studied; therefore, there is need for understanding of specific behaviours involved within particular criminals committed by both men and women, the feature of their criminal responsibilities, circumstances contributing to criminal involvement, the motivation for committing the crimes, and the vocabularies used in justifying their crimes (Reski, 2013, 188). The motivation and vocabularies used by women in particular could offer new insights and understanding of the nature, offending patterns of the females, and trends. The pull towards the criminal activities felt by women engaged in the economic times and act rationally is an area deserving further empirical and theoretical attention. Conclusion During the last decades, the world has been experiencing important revolution in the society as women continue to involve in the activities initially considered for men. Through globalization, the society has been able to reconfigure through creation of new forms of human relations that challenge both social and judicial activities. One of such human relations is the existence of organized crimes; specifically its increment and internationalization. These crimes often involve different areas and actors within the society and could be defined as a group that uses violence in reaching to an advantage. The violent features usually lead to understanding that organized crimes are associated with men. Nonetheless, the roles played by women in the society have been changing as well including in criminal justice system. Inside the rising numbers of the organized crimes, there have not been complete discussions on the role of women. However, it is important to note that in both traditional and modern organized criminal groups, women play important role in ensuring the success of the organizations. The paper argued that women involvement in the transnational activities tends to vary across socio-cultural and historic space. Currently, there is a rising number of women becoming members of organized crimes; however, the mechanisms in which they become members are not fully exploited. Some women join the mafias through trafficking, marriages to members of the members, and acknowledgment through third parties. It is important to note that women play different roles in their respective mafia groups. Globally, there is an increasing number of women holding executive positions, which reflect the level of flexibility and hierarchical changes taking place within these organizations. The common mafia leaders are either widows or the wives of the leaders put in prison. Women play important roles in mafia organizations as they ensure adequate coverage of the tracks and illegal activities undertaken by their husbands. Moreover, women play significant intelligence roles, holding the reins, and mapping out the strategic action of the mafia organizations. Nonetheless, some women operating with the mafia have not been able to acquire leadership positions and still perform traditional duties such as cutting and repacking various drugs such as cocaine and heroin in the kitchens, paying the teenagers to act as organizational lookouts, and wielding power on the street. 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